1 out of 3 women will be beaten, raped or experience some sort of violence in her lifetime. Fortunately, on February 4th the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) was introduced in Congress.

The U.S. has taken steps to fast-tracking the process of Haitian adoptions. But some have warned against adoptions, saying the best solution is to invest in restoring Haiti and to try to reunite families first.

Women in Afghanistan are choosing suicide to escape "their dire circumstances," according to a new report issued by Canada's Foreign Affairs Department. Even in the relatively peaceful region of Herat, over 80 women set themselves on fire in 2008.

The Census Bureau will tally immigrant indigenous groups, such as Maya, Nahua, Mixtec, or Purepecha, for the first time ever, hoping to get a more complete snapshot of a growing segment of the immigrant population.

Amanda Simpson has become the first transgender person to be appointed to a position by the President of the United States. President Obama announced Simpson as his pick for Technical Advisor under the Department of Commerce.

Back in February, UNICEF Zimbabwe issued a press release to bring attention to Zimbabwe's education crisis. An astonishing 66 to 70% of schools were closed throughout the country, and schools that were open saw an attendance rate of only 33% ...

In India, where the skin lightening is a $318 million industry, the group Women of Worth created the campaign Dark is Beautiful to bring attention to the stigma placed on dark skin and to encourage everyone to embrace their natural skin color.

The U.S. Department of Labor has released a list of goods produced by child and slave labor. According to the International Labor Organization, over 12 million people are enslaved, and about 218 million children work.

The Sudanese journalist who was jailed for wearing trousers, a violation of the country's indecency law, was recently freed. She vows to continue to fight the law which she contests is unconstitutional and has no merit.

Due to violence and drought, thousands of Somalis flee their homes, but refugee camps are astoundingly inadequate. The largest camp in Kenya was designed to hold 90,000 people, but now has almost 300,000, wth 8,000 new refugees entering per month.